Yokogawa Releases FieldMate™ R2.03 Versatile Device Management Wizard

02/08/2011

Yokogawa Electric Corporation announced the release of the FieldMate™ R2.03 Versatile Device Management Wizard. This is an upgraded version intended for use in plants and other production-related sites. In response to rapid growth in the Chinese market, Chinese language support has been included as a standard feature. Support for the ISA100.11a field wireless communications standard is also provided.

Development Background

Digital communications standards play an increasingly important role in communications between plant central control systems and field sensors. With conventional field communications, only measured values from sensors are sent to the central control systems. With digital communication technologies, however, additional data such as sensor settings and maintenance information can be sent, and operators in a central control room are also able to remotely configure and adjust the sensors.

Plants using sensors from multiple vendors that rely on more than one communications standard require versatile software tools for device configuration, adjustment, and management. FieldMate, an open standard software package that supports FDT/DTM* as well as all other major field communications standards, is ideally suited for such requirements. Yokogawa has come out with this upgraded version of FieldMate to capitalize on opportunities for growth in the device maintenance market.

* FDT/DTM

Field Device Tool (FDT) is a communications interface that links control systems with field sensors such as pressure transmitters and flowmeters. Device Type Manager (DTM) is an FDT-based device driver that is provided by a vendor of a device or a control system.

Product Features

Chinese language support provided as a standard feature

FieldMate now supports the Chinese language, in addition to Japanese and English, positioning this product to capture a larger share of the rapidly growing Chinese market. Yokogawa has plans to add support for other languages at a later date.

Support of the field wireless communications standard

The upgraded version of FieldMate is now capable of supporting the ISA100.11a field wireless communications standard, which is gaining rapid acceptance in the marketplace. FieldMate’s support of all major field communication protocols allows customers to manage a wide variety of devices, and select field sensors from different vendors.

Free basic version

Beginning in March 2011, a basic version of FieldMate that includes sensor setting, adjustment, and management functions may be downloaded free of charge from the Yokogawa website. An enhanced basic package with interfaces for various types of field sensors as well as an advanced package with a database function and a synchronization function for the efficient maintenance of a variety of field devices will also be available for purchase. This advanced package has all the functions provided in the enhanced basic package.

Main Target Markets

Facility maintenance divisions in process industries such as oil, petrochemicals, chemicals, pulp and paper, pharmaceuticals, foods and beverages, and iron and steel

Applications

Sensor configuration, adjustment, and inspection and device information management in plants and other production facilities

FieldMate

FieldMate is a PC-based device configuration tool with an intuitive, user-friendly interface that is used to perform initial setup, routine maintenance, and device replacement. It supports all major industry-standard communication protocols such as FOUNDATION fieldbus, BRAIN, and HART, as well as the FDT/DTM open framework for setting and adjusting any vendor’s network-capable field device, regardless of which communications protocol is used. In addition, support for the ISA100.11a field wireless communications standard enables configuration, adjustment, and management of a wider variety of field devices in plants.